Educational game



Nov. 13, 1934. F, sAvoRY v 1,980,637

EDUCATIONAL' GAME Filed Nov. 2, 1932 Patented Nov. 13, 1934 'UNITED srArEfsz-i EDUCATION AL y GAME Vj Flrencegsavory, Chelsea, ,Masa e ApplicationNovember 2, 1932, '.Serial Nmy 640,811.

' This invention has-for'an object toprovde a; game which will-commandth'e full interests of the players andthe'playing of Which'wi'll be edu-l cational. To this end the players areprovided l With blocks,` eachlcarrying acharacter'such as vvaV letter, the players-associatingtheir own `blocks so that the characters thereon are arrangedin significant series, these characters, When let-- ters, being arranged in Words, the-players being 10T permitted to take'character-carrying blocks .al-'-A readyY associated by. other players to form portions of significantv arrangements which mayfbe completed by characters on blocks in their own possession or available lto them. y

In order to facilitate the assembling ofthe blocks andv theirl exchange between the several players, a. rotarygame board is provided 'having' means for holding the blocksin assembled re-Y lation.

invention, reference: may be had to'the accompanying drawing in which.

Figure 1 -isa top plan of the Agame board .shown '35i 'for the board.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view similar to a portion of Figure 1, but showing a modification.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective illustrating a modified construction of blocks and 40,; board.

Figures 9 and 10 are fragmentary plans somewhat diagrammatically illustrating a method of playing the game.

Referring iirst to Figures 1 and 2, at 1 is shown 4531,21 suitable table such, for example, as a con- Fora more completeV understanding' of.' this.4

nations suitably securedtogetheroi-derf to' minimize warping, and '-is" cut in circular` form.' It may 'be provided with any suitable bearing' 5 atV itscenter` for cooperation with the pivot 'post 3'.- As-'shownf also it may vbe supported'iadjacent' m to its outer edge byf-Wheelscrrollers'l 6'; 'oneof which is shown detached-1in Fig-ure `6,- these-beingl secured in any suitable Wayto theVv under facel of rthe gaine `board' f in position to 'support' iti-dif rec-tlyffrom thetop lof the table 1.

As f shown the board isf provided witHafplu rality of non-communicating sets'f-of'ways var-v ranged syrm'netrically in segmental* portions:- thereof about the centerz of theV board and on-X itsupper facesothat by' rotationo'f theiboardl 70;?3

the vvarys-4 of each segmentl may Aloe-brought suc-M cessively into" the same4 relation` to'l a\ player;- Thesemay -be arrangedas shownin Figures 'lA andf,l being formedas parallel-:channels10 in the upper' face-1 of the? board'. Thesefmay besarA 7&5'

ranged` substantially parallel to` one -margin o'f" the4 corresponding segment? as shown in Fi'guresi. 1, 9- anduiO, or` if desi-redthey mayfbefarranged"A perpendicular: to the central radius` infeach'seg ever, they are preferably arranged with the ways of each set in parallel relation. Where they are formed as grooves or channels in the upper face of the board, they are of sulicient width to receive freely therebetween character-carrying 855155 blocks 11. One of these is shown detached in Figure 4. Each carries on one face a character such as one of the letters of the alphabet. A considerable number of these blocks are employed, say, 200 or more, and they may carry 9051"? the several letters of the alphabet, those such as the vowels, which are more commonly used in forming Words predominating in number over those letters less commonly employed.

Instead of forming the Ways as depressions or 9553' grooves in the upper surface of the board, they may be formed by raised ribs as shown at 15 in Figure 8 in which case the blocks such as 11 will be provided with grooves 16 on their under faces to engage over these ribs. Whatever the construction of the Ways, the Ways and blocks cooperate so that the blocks are held with their characters visible to all the players. In order to facilitate rotation of the game board on the table for purposes which Will later appear, the game board may be provided with finger-engageable portions or knobs 20 at suitably spaced points adjacent to its periphery which may be pressed upon by the players to turn the board. The board is 11035- however, be played by a smaller number, or even by a larger number, provided a plurality of players Work together on the same segment. The

iirst player arranges Vhis blocks letter-side up along the ways in one of the segments which may be presented with its ways in front of him so that the letters thereon are associated to form Words. For example, as shown in Figure 9, a player has arranged certain of these blocks so that the letters thereon form the word spring in one of vthe Ways in his segment and he has also arranged other -blocks so that the lettersthereon formthe word-Peat in 'the next adjacent Way. He continues to associate his `blocks as long as he is able to form words from the letters on blocks in hispossession, or on blocks contained in the re-.

ceptacle 7. When he is no longer able to vform words with theletters on these blocks, he places one of the blockslin his possession in the receptacle 7 whereupon his play is complete and the next player proceeds yin like manner. Beside using his own blocks and those in the segment 7, he is also permitted to use the blocks already associated Aby any otherplayer, to form words in his own segment, provided hel can add thereto letters on blocks in his own possession or in the vreceptacle 7. If he can do this, -he rotates the board to bring the segment in which are positioned the letters lhe Wishes to take into convenient position, removes thev blocks carrying these letters from thatfsegment, -and places -them in a Way of his own segment which, by rotation of the board, he has returned to convenient position, together "ed for the number of Words into which these letwith such other blocks as he may have or may take from the receptacle 7 to complete the larger lettered word. For example, the player may take the blocks whose characters form the Word cat in Figure 9 and associate them with a block containing the character s to form the word cast as shown in Figure 10. If desired, the rules of the game may provide that merely pluralizing a word or adding prefixes or suffixes thereto shall not be permitted. This second player also plays a block from his own supply into the receptacle 7 to complete his play. The game proceeds in this manner until no further plays can be made by any of the players. The score may be counted by the `number of blocks associated in each players segment into Words, or by the number of words made in each segment, or by combinations of the two. For example, each letter may be individually counted and then additional points may be countters have been associated. Suitable penaltiesmay be provided for mistakes in spelling. Y Ofvcourse other variations of the method of play may be made as desired. The game as thus played holds the interest of the players and increases their vocabularies andknowledge of spelling.

From the foregoing description of this game and apparatus for use in connection therewith, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodications might be made without departing yfrom `the spirit or scopeof this invention as defined by theappended claim. k

I claim: i f

In combination, a game boardpivoted for rotation, about a center, sets of ways arranged in segmental portions of said board about said centerinposition to be presented successively into the` sameA relation to a player as said board is rotated,

a plurality of character-carrying blocks for asso` ciation in desired sequence along said Ways, said 115 ways cooperating with said blocks to hold said blocks with their characters `visible to all the; player`sand a receptacle for containing a plurality of said blocks positioned at said center.

FLORENCE SAVORY.l 

